Nearly half of Americans take at least one prescription drug, for matters ranging from chronic health problems to seasonal allergies. However, in recent years, the prices of prescription drugs have risen massively, to the point where, according to one study conducted by the AARP, the average cost of a year's supply of prescription drugs has doubled from 2006 to 2013, from approximately $5,500 to over $11,000. These prices are already unaffordable for much of the country (such as retired persons), and are predicted to continue to rise dramatically.
There are numerous reasons for these increases. For example, in many cases, large price increases can arise from a shortage or a change in insurance coverage. Manufacturers may also raise prices because there are a lack of generics or other competitors in the market.
Increasingly, customers have begun making it a priority to save as much money as they can on prescription drugs. For example, many customers have resorted to purchasing prescription drugs online from Canada, which generally enjoys much cheaper prices. While this is technically illegal (under the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987, it is illegal for anyone other than the original manufacturer to bring prescription drugs into the country, though the law appears to be rarely enforced by U.S. officials) and often unsafe (a large number of medications ordered online turn out to be counterfeit, or are at the very least sourced from a different country other than Canada), it remains a somewhat common practice.
Those customers interested in staying on the right side of the law can, theoretically, still get a significant amount of benefit from comparison shopping. One study conducted by Consumer Reports found that costs can vary as much as 10 times from one retailer to another, with the least expensive retailers tending to be non-chain drugstores (such as “mom-and-pop” operations). Numerous apps and websites like GOODRX and LOWEST MED have sprung up in order to try to offer customers a better deal when initially seeking to fill a prescription; these programs provide customers with the prices of medications at various pharmacies in their local area, as well as the prices of comparable generic drugs or competitor drugs, which allow customers to fill the prescription at the pharmacy offering the lowest price.
However, these apps and websites offer significantly less benefit to a customer that has a prescription with one pharmacy and wants to transfer to another. While many chain drugstores try to make it as easy as possible for a customer to transfer their prescription to the chain drugstore (for example, many have staff that will call the pharmacy holding the prescription and the prescribing physician and make necessary arrangements) it can still be a lengthy and complicated process that will often require the customer to wait up to a week to have their prescription transferred. Further, the pharmacies that typically offer the best deals to customers (the aforementioned “mom-and-pop” stores) generally are the least likely to offer transfer services to customers, requiring the customers to jump through additional hoops in order to transfer their prescription.